


When My Mind is Uncertain, My Body Decides

by Two_for_Slashing



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: I don't understand how either of them don't have more stories, M/M, Rare Pairings, but I count it as an actual pairing so, but especially the two of them together, they are such precious rookies, this is more heavily implied Lias/Filip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 12:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15119834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Two_for_Slashing/pseuds/Two_for_Slashing
Summary: He doesn't really know how he ended up on this boat.





	When My Mind is Uncertain, My Body Decides

**Author's Note:**

> I was mentally singing "I'm on a Boat" by the Lonely Island while writing this. We're all lucky the title didn't end up being "Everybody look at me cause I'm sailing on a boat".
> 
> This is basically inspired by those pictures of Lias and Filip that the Rangers posted to Instagram following the draft/before the start of development camp. And because I mean it when I say they are both adorable and should have more fic written for them than there is. They are also super starry-eyed around each other in general and I love them together.
> 
> IF YOU ARE ANYONE AT ALL MENTIONED IN THIS FIC LEAVE NOW. I mean it. I know Lias has friends who read fanfiction to him, so if any of you Swedes are here, get lost.
> 
> Title taken from The Plan (Fuck Jobs) by The Front Bottoms.

He doesn't really know how he ended up on this boat, or why he had to fly all the way from the Czech Republic to attend a draft party it seemed that no one was paying much attention to, but Filip was keenly aware that Lias was leaning a little too much into him while attempting to take the perfect selfie.

Or at least that was what Filip thought. Maybe he was reading too much into it. Maybe he wasn't. He didn't think Lias was that complicated of a guy. He totally wore his emotions out and proud, and he wasn't afraid to say how he really felt, or to cry, which Filip admired more than found shocking.

But Filip hadn't really been around him in this type of a situation. Or at least, a situation with Lias involving someone he was interested in. That was assuming that Lias could be interested in Filip, and he was totally assuming here.

It had been hard not to gush about him at the draft party. Lias had totally had a great start to the off-season with his win with Sweden and all the partying and publicity he had received afterwards. Filip had been more than proud of every shift and goal his friend had gotten, and he had watched what he could of the games and then paid extra close attention to all social media afterwards, and Lias had been nothing but glowing the entire time.

He would never admit how much he liked all of the videos of drunk Lias, who was endearing sober but even more so when he wasn't, and he _definitely_ would never admit that he had watched the video of Lias getting his admittedly horrifying beard shaved at least ten times, if not more.

Filip wasn't even sure what he would do if he ever saw de la Rose in person, but he had had complicated emotions towards Lias' fellow countryman after watching him doing something so seemingly intimate that he hoped he didn't stick the Habs roster in the fall.

Filip was very aware how not nice of a thought that was. He also really _really_ didn't care.

"No, no, this could be better. This could be better, right? Look at our hair!" Lias is holding his phone out to a girl from the Rangers PR department, who in turn is holding a camera pointed at the two of them. She has been taking pictures of them since the draft party, and had been following them around since then, which is why she was on the boat. She had probably posted everything Filip had seen on Twitter and Instagram the last few nights, and he was curious as to what she had captured today. She seemed very good with the camera, and very tolerant of all the young draftees, even though he had observed her getting a little more attention than she looked comfortable with from Vitali, who looked like he was having a little too much fun being an unsigned rookie.

In short: it had been an interesting few days.

The PR girl looks at Lias' phone and shrugs. "I think you guys look fine. Why don't either of you smile?"

"I don't like my smile," Filip responds, because it's true.

"But you have a nice smile," Lias says, turning to look at him. 

"Yours is nicer," he says back, and he means it. When Lias is happy, like really happy, his smile reaches near blinding levels. Filip likes seeing him when he gets like that, all huge grins and crinkled bright blue eyes, but when it comes to the selfies he's been trying to take since they got on this stupid boat, he hasn't been doing much of that. Filip figures it's just Lias trying to take what he thinks is a nice picture, but he would rather step to the side and tell him some jokes to get him laughing and pay the PR girl to take pictures of Lias with his smile on full display than get a good picture of the two of them looking mildly disgruntled.

"Let's take another, then," Lias says, leaning back towards Filip. "I'll smile if you smile?" 

He totally feels their shoulders brush against each other, and Filip zones out briefly as he wonders if this is intentional. "Heh?" he manages, suddenly aware that Lias has been snapping pictures the entire time. The breeze that has been adding to this questionably necessary boat trip picks up again and Filip reaches out to smooth down his hair just as Lias' gets blown in his face. His friend is still snapping along, and Filip catches how they look briefly in his camera. 

Lias is still not smiling, but he is leaning in so close to Filip that it almost looks like he is resting against his shoulder, and damnit, Filip really likes how that would look if it were happening. He smiles slightly at the thought, and Lias keeps snapping away. "There you go," he mutters, stepping away to look at his phone and all that he captured.

"You still didn't smile," Filip points out, because Lias didn't, and that close-lipped thing he was doing definitely didn't count.

"You didn't either."

"I did!"

"When my hair hit your face!" Lias exclaims suddenly, and then he is laughing, showing the picture to Filip, and he can't help but laugh too, because their hair were totally up and out in all sorts of angles and directions. Lias is showing the PR girl his phone again, and she is nodding along with mild interest, her eyes darting to the side, where Vitali is watching them like a Russian shark waiting to single out his prey.

"These pictures are hilarious," Lias says, and he leans in again towards Filip, his fingers flipping through each one. Filip leans towards him to get a better look, and he can feel Lias press his shoulder into his chest.

There is absolutely no need for that, but here Lias is, a very warm and very obvious pressure against him.

Filip tries very, very hard to focus, but the heat is making it a bit hard for him to keep his mind in only one place.

The pictures are also very funny. Filip decides that he should probably get a haircut to avoid this happening again, but he'll figure that out when he has to.

The PR girl gets called over to take pictures of Coach Quinn with Jeff Gorton and the Statue of Liberty in the background and a reporter for one of the New York City newspapers comes over to talk with Lias about his win with Sweden. Filip hangs around in the background for a bit before wandering off to the side of the boat. He leans against the railing, bracing himself with both hands tightly grasping it.

They are cruising along the edge of New York City now, and Filip takes an opportunity to admire the Freedom Tower and all of the other large buildings he doesn't know the names of yet but hopes he will have time to learn. The whole sky has taken on a gray tinge, the sun hidden behind clouds, but the city still looks beautiful. Filip has learned in his brief time in America that no matter a sunny day or a rainy day, New York City is gorgeous in every color, in every type of weather, at every time of day. There really was nothing like it.

Lias is at his side suddenly. "It's something, huh?"

Filip nods, humming in agreement.

"We are lucky," Lias adds. "This place is special."

His hand is suddenly touching Filip's - it starts off as a gentle brush of skin but quickly changes into a more solid pressure. Lias has also decided to use the railing to brace himself as they admire the city, and he has placed his hand close enough to Filip's to touch it. Filip looks down at the lack of space between where their hands are, his heart starting to pound away in his chest, when Lias leans forward, his arm pressed completely against Filip's as he slots himself into place.

Filip doesn't know exactly what his brain short circuiting would feel like, but he is pretty sure the sudden wooziness that sweeps through is definitely the start of it.

Filip also knows he should be responding to anything that Lias has been saying because he completely agrees with him, New York City really _is_ great and they are so lucky to have even been drafted to the NHL, but. 

But.

He looks down at Lias instead, who is looking out at the water and the city. He has a small smile on his face, and he looks at peace, and in the same gray light that is bathing everything that lies before them, he is more beautiful than every inch of New York City combined.

Lias turns his head, and his bright blue eyes meet Filip's dark ones. His smile widens with no prompting, and Filip wonders if he can hear his thoughts, wonders if Lias knows what he's doing to Filip, if Lias knows how he's taking Filip's heart and shooting it full of adrenaline, taking his brain and whispering hundreds of fantasies into his mind.

He wonders if Lias knows he has the most beautiful smile.

One day Filip will tell him that sentiment exactly, and he hopes when he does, Lias receives it the way he wants him to.

"So," Lias says, and he is still leaning into Filip, his arm still touching Filip's, his hand still pressed against Filip's, Filip the focus of those big blue eyes, the recipient of his smile, "you are still staying downtown tonight, right?"

Filip knows that a bunch of the other rookies have reserved hotel rooms near their training facility for the start of development camp, and he had considered making a reservation at a hotel nearer to where they would be practicing so the commute wouldn't be as long, but he hadn't yet. "Yes."

Lias' smile grows larger. "Good," he says. "Me too."

Filip didn't think it was possible for his heart to explode in his chest, but he is pretty sure he might be finding out very soon if it would. He's also pretty sure he knows where Lias is going with this, and he knows he has to take complete advantage of what he is being offered while the invitation is there. He shifts his weight so he can push his arm harder against Lias'. "You should come and visit me."

"I should!" Lias agrees as he pushes back, and he laughs softly, blue eyes sparkling. "I need to show you some things. I want your opinion on them."

He isn't...is he? He is? Maybe? Filip doesn't know what to think anymore, but yes, he does want to see whatever it is Lias wants to show him, very, very badly. The less clothing involved the better. "I would like to see..." he pauses, just staring at Lias' face, not exactly sure how to say what he wants to say, especially not in Czech, and _definitely_ not in English.

He can see that Lias looks near to laughing. It is so not fair that he is teasing him this way. And it is even not fair that his face looks just as beautiful laughing as it does when he smiles.

"Pictures, Filip," he says. "I want you to help me pick which one you like best from today."

And - oh. _Oh_. Filip wants to die suddenly. It is quite a switch of emotions. "Oh," he says, feeling quite stupid. "Just...the pictures?"

He notices that Lias has not leaned away, and that he is still looking up at him with a blinding grin on his face. "Well," he says, trying to look thoughtful but doing a bad job at it, "now that you mention it...maybe not _just_ the pictures."

And with that Lias turns away, heading back towards the center of the upper deck, back towards the PR people and the other rookies and the Rangers staff, leaving Filip absolutely floored and, if he's being honest, half-hard with thoughts that he is not going to be able to push away. 

He gets about midway to the crowd before he stops and looks back over his shoulder. He flashes Filip another bright grin, one that clearly says he knows exactly what he's doing now and what he's going to be doing later. There is so much promise there that Filip is finding it hard to believe that he ever questioned anything in the first place. "I'll see you tonight," Lias coos as his grin seamlessly transitions into a smirk, and his tone of voice is so teasing it's wicked.

Filip just about manages a nod in response. 

He is going to be so fucked tonight.

And not just figuratively, either. Every inch of Filip is _completely_ certain of that.

**Author's Note:**

> The PR girl basically got the pictures that the Rangers posted to their Instagram, if any readers want to see them. The video of Lias getting his chin shaved by Jacob de la Rose (currently of the Montreal Canadiens/Team Sweden) is on Tumblr.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and hopefully enjoying, and for loving these soft boys with me!


End file.
